Dodgers Make Run for It, Win, 5-3 : Gibson, Gonzalez Get the Most Out of Sloppy Play by Braves

In the fifth inning with the Dodgers leading the Atlanta Braves, 2-1, Sunday, it appeared to be merely another high pitch from Zane Smith to Kirk Gibson. Merely another ball four on a day in which Smith would walk four.

But as anyone in the National League will attest, Gibson doesn’t walk anywhere.

The ball escaped catcher Jody Davis and Gibson’s walk turned into a sprint. He rounded first, rounded second, and finally stopped at third after teammate Jose Gonzalez had scored from first.

The man who routinely turns singles into doubles had outdone himself by turning a walk into a “triple,” firing up the Dodgers and sending them to a 5-3 victory before 43,050 at Dodger Stadium.

On a day when Fernando Valenzuela won his third consecutive game for the first time since April of 1987, on a day when Jay Howell took another step toward the All-Star game with his 14th save in 16 opportunities, it was Gibson who stole the show.

“I would pay to see Kirk Gibson play ball,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “And that’s the highest compliment one could pay him.”

Said Gonzalez: “You know when Gibson is up there, you have to be hustling, because he’s going to be hustling.”

Gibson, who jubilantly punched the thick afternoon air with his right hand several times after reaching third base, later smiled.

“That’s the type of play that really excites me,” he said. “I love running the bases like that.”

After Atlanta’s Andres Thomas gave the Braves a 1-0 lead with his ninth home run of the season in the first inning, the Dodgers came back with a run on two triples (Alfredo Griffin, Mariano Duncan) and a fly ball (Gonzalez) in the third. Speaking of aggressive baserunning, when was the last time you saw two triples in one inning?

All of this, however, only served to set up the fifth, during which Gibson’s race began after Gonzalez hit a one-out single to center.

Up stepped Gibson, who a minute later watched as Smith’s ball four pitch zoomed inside and nearly hit him, bouncing off Davis’ glove and rolling to the backstop.

“I know Gonzalez is running, I know he’s going to third, so I figure, I’ve got to at least go for second, get a throw down there, see what happens,” Gibson said.

“Sometimes, you’ve got to force the issue.”

What he forced was Davis’ hurried throw to second, a throw made with little regard for Gonzalez speeding around third. Second baseman Jeff Blauser intercepted the ball in front of second base while Smith hurried to cover the plate. He arrived at the plate too late, with Gonzalez having already scored.

Smith then mishandled Blauser’s low throw. Gibson ended up on third.

“You know, I’ve scored from second on a wild pitch before,” Gibson said. “When you’re running the bases, you’ve just got to give yourself all options. You’ve got to run hard to first, because if you don’t, there’s no way you have a chance of ever taking second. And you have to run hard to third because you just don’t know what will happen once you get there.”

Gibson later scored on a fly ball by Jeff Hamilton, and then showed he can still do the ordinary by turning a single into a double in the seventh.

Meanwhile, John Shelby caught on, turning one base into two in the sixth, doubling and then eventually scoring the Dodgers’ final run on a botched suicide squeeze on which the Braves pitched out but muffed the rundown. Third baseman Ron Gant dropped the ball when he was supposed to catch it and tag Shelby off third.

All of which might explain why the young and erratic Braves lead the league in errors (69) after committing two more. Pitcher Smith, meanwhile, leads the major leagues in losses at 1-11.

“We didn’t catch the ball today,” said Brave Manager Russ Nixon. “We catch the ball, we win.”

Or perhaps if they catch a little wind, they win. After Howell relieved Valenzuela in the eighth, he found himself holding his breath in the ninth after pinch hitter Jeff Treadway singled and pinch-hitter Darrell Evans lofted a long fly ball down the right-field line that hooked foul. Evans then struck out, and Dion James flied out to end the game.

Valenzuela gave up three runs in 7 1/3 innings for his third victory after beginning the season with five straight losses. The Dodgers finished the home stand 6-4.

Meanwhile, West-leading San Francisco took a bold step by trading for Philadelphia reliever Steve Bedrosian. Said Fred Claire, the Dodgers’ executive vice president: “I’m not going, ‘Oh my gosh, a trade was made today,’ ” Claire said on a day during which two good center fielder/leadoff hitters, the kind the Dodgers might covet, were also traded around the league--Philadelphia’s Juan Samuel to the New York Mets for Lenny Dykstra.

“We’re alive, we’re breathing and we have hope,” Claire said. “We had reached a point where we could have folded, but we didn’t. If we aren’t getting the kind of offense we need, we must manufacture runs . . . and that’s what we did well (Sunday).”

Dodger Notes

Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, said Mickey Hatcher would return from the disabled list tonight, his strained left hamstring having recovered. Infielder Tracy Woodson, who will have his right quadriceps muscle examined by team doctors today, will likely go on the disabled list. Woodson has only played four times, going hitless in six at-bats, since being recalled from triple-A Albuquerque June 6.

Willie Randolph was scratched from Sunday’s lineup because of a sore left shoulder apparently hurt while he was sliding on a first-inning steal attempt Saturday. He was replaced by Mariano Duncan, who moved Kirk Gibson out of the leadoff spot for the first time in a week and wound up going two for two with a double. If there is one player the Dodgers can’t afford to lose, it’s Randolph. He has 20 hits in his last 49 at-bats for a .408 average, lifting his overall average to a team-leading .295. Randolph has hit that well only once in his 13-year big league career, .305 for the New York Yankees in 1987.

Judging by the crowd reaction, the highlight of a pregame romp by Dodger old-timers Sunday was the appearance of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda (1954-55). He sharply grounded the first pitch from Dick Calmus (1963) through the legs of third baseman John Kennedy (1965-66) for what was ruled a base hit and then took the mound to get the game’s only strikeout against the only batter he faced, Bill Grabarkewitz (1969-72). In case anybody was counting, a team of former Dodgers from the 1955, 1959 and 1981 world championship teams defeated the players from the 1963 and 1965 title teams, 6-2, led by a double and three RBIs from Reggie Smith (1976-81).